Black Balloon
by Jedi Adia
Summary: This is a story that takes place between Episodes II and III. It begins just after Anakin leaves them and ends a little while before Anaking becomes the Darth Vader that we all know and love/hate, whatever your POV. Please R


"Black Balloon"   
by Jedi Adia  
  
Disclaimers: Star Wars belongs to George Lucas, and the song "Black Balloon" belongs to the Goo Goo Dolls.   
  
Baby's black balloon makes her fly  
I almost fell into that hole in your life  
And you're not thinkin' about tomorrow  
Cuz you were the same as me  
But on your knees  
  
Obi-Wan paced outside the Council chamber. It had been several days since Anakin had left. Darkness had overtaken him, and he'd become an agent of evil. There was no turning back.   
  
Obi-Wan felt a stab of guilt, as sharp as the blade that had taken his master's life so long ago. He had let them all down. Qui-Gon, Anakin...Padmé and her unborn child. Obi-Wan wasn't competent as a Jedi Master. He had been wrong, and the Council was about to tell him what he already knew.   
  
Obi-Wan paused, as the doors opened, and Yoda himself came out.   
  
"Ready for you we are," he said.   
  
A thousand other boys could never reach you  
How could I have been the one?   
I saw the world spin beneath you  
And scatter like ice from the spoon that was your womb  
  
A couple of hours later, Obi-Wan came out to find Padmé waiting there for him. "They say it wasn't my fault, " he said.   
  
"Of course not," Padmé whispered. "Ani was impulsive. And angry. The combination of which is deadly."  
  
"Is this the punishment for all the stunts I pulled as Qui-Gon's Padawan?" Obi-Wan wondered aloud. "Now I understand howhe felt when Xanatos turned. Is this supposed to happen? Of course not," he bitterly answered his own question. "Ani was supposed to bring balance to the Force, not chaos to the Order."   
  
"But you're supposed to prevent the chaos, protect the Order," she wrapped her arms around the bulge that her stomach had become, "and protect the four of us."  
  
Obi-Wan looked at her. "Twins?" Padmé nodded.   
  
Comin' down the world turned over  
And angels fall without you there  
And I go on as you get colder  
Or are you someone else's prayer?   
  
"Does Ani know?"   
  
"Ani only knows of one child. I couldn't bear it if he knew of them both," she said. "I'd like to leave after they're born. We need to escape."  
  
Why not now? Obi-Wan thought. The sooner they left, the less likely the chance that Anakin would learn of them both! And then Padmé answered the unspoken question.   
  
"They need to be separated. I don't want Anakin finding them both."  
  
You know the lies they always told you  
And the love you never knew  
What's the things they never showed you  
That swallow the light from the sun inside your room  
  
Comin' down the world turned over  
And angels fall without you there  
And I go on as you get colder  
Always someone there  
  
Obi-Wan's mind flooded with scenarios of everything that could go wrong. He couldn't let Anakin find them. Padmé carried two future Jedi, both strong in the Force. If Anakin found them, everyone could be destroyed - even Anakin himself.   
  
"We can't let Anakin find them...he'd be destroyed."  
  
"Isn't Anakin already destroyed?"   
  
"I intend to save him, to undo the damage that I've done. I owe the galaxy that much," Obi-Wan said. "You've got to stay here at the Temple until the children are born. You'll be safest here."  
  
He turned to leave, and Padmé grabbed his arm. "What will we do after they're born?" she asked.   
  
"We'll get as far away as possible," Obi-Wan answered.   
  
And there's no time left for losin'  
When you stand they fall  
  
Comin' down the world turned over  
And angels fall without you there  
And I go on as you get colder  
All because I'm  
Comin' down the years turned over  
And angels fall without you there  
And I'll go on and I'll bring you home and  
All because I'm  
All because I'm  
What you became to me  
  
"I'll find you, Anakin," Obi-Wan whispered, as he looked out over the Coruscant skyline later that night. "I promised Qui-Gon I'd train you...I promised you that you'd become a Jedi. This is just a bump in the road..." At least, he hoped it was just a bump in the road. Yoda always said there was no turning back. But Obi-Wan hoped the Chosen One was just an exception. 


End file.
